Shutter



` 1,495,589 R. HOFFMAN t SHUTTER I 2 Sheets-Shea?. 2

Patented May 27, 1924.

Unirse sii/Ares 1,495,589 AmiTl:NT osriios.

RUDOLPH HOFFMAN, OF KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS, AssIGNOn To snnns, HOEBUCK ANDCo., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. f

SHUTT'R.

Appisias ned may 19'26. ses; in. :3511,:17-6.`

Ta all whom t may concern: A Y

Be it known that I, ,RUnoLiiH HFFMN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kankakee, in theyy county of Kankakee and State ofIllinois,have inventedy certain new and [useful Improvements in Shutters, efwhich the following is a specification. l

The invention .relates in general, =to. shuty ters andmore particularlycontemplates the provision of a flexible` shutter adapted;` to close anOpening the' front wall of a kitchen cabinet or the like.

The Object of thev invention is toprovide v a shutter of advantageousconstruetion 16 which may be manufactured at a relatively lon7 cost andis easily operable from a Closed position over the Opening into aninoperative position at one edge of the opening. A

A further object ofthe invention is to 20 provide a shutter whichcomprises a plurality of leaves connected together in an im,`

proved manner enabling the leaves to, swing relative to each other froman extended re- 4 lation to a collapsed relation and vice versa, with asmooth and easy action.

vThe objects of the invention thn's gener.` ally stated, together withother advantages whioh will be apparent vfrom the following description,Ymay be attained by the eenstruction and arrangement illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein IY have shown a preferred embodiment ofthe invention. It is to be understood, however, that although theinvention is hereinafter described with considerable,particularity, itis not intended that it shall be limited thereby in the interpretationof the appended claims, except as may be neCess-it'ated the state of theprior art.

In the drawings, Figure 1 isa perspective View of a kitchen cabinethaving a shutter 'constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 isa fragmentary vertical seotional view transversely of theshutter and theupper portion of the cabinet. Fig. .3 is a fragmentary horizontalsection through the upper ,portion of the cabinet, showing the uppermostleaf swung into its horizontalA or inoperative position. Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectional View transverselyiof the upper portion of thecabinet and showing the leaves collapsed into their inoperativeposition. Fig. 5 is aV fragmentary vertical sectional viewlongitudinally of the upper portion of the cabinet showing the leaves ining an, speling vio ,therein .adapted mbe l"Clo's'edhy a shutterdesignated generally by the-numeral 11. i

The shutter` eomprises a plurality of (iiiV leaves l2 operativelyconnected together by means of a plurality of hingemernbers 13. ,one endot vthe shutter., as, forA example, the upper end, is pivotallyysupported in the cabinet upon a rod 141, and the lower end ofthevshutter carries a rod 15 providing guide studs atit's opposite endsoperatively engaging vin guideways 17 provided upon the 4 opposite sidewalls of the compartment of the eahinet whi'oh is closed by the shutter.The leaves 1'2 are, Vformed atopposite ends with sidefportion'slS whieh,when the leaves aie 4in their elitended relation, projeet in` a rearwarddirection. lSubstantially centrally of hsaid side 'prtionsw arepivotally secured mening@ iits'mtsis` 13 s at i9.` said 'membes 1,3 arein the form of flat bars or links,

and the pivots 19 are also located oentrally of lthe hinge members. n iv lThe links 18 forthj'@4k intermediate leaves arepiv'otally Connectedat their 'opposite ends with the adjoiningedg'es ofthe adjacen't leaves.Thus the upper ends of. the links are connected tothe lower edges of theupper adjacent `1eme by means of pivots 2()v entered through thenlovver'ends o'fjth'erside portions 18 of the leaves; vand the lower ends ofthe ,members are con- 'neoted to thevupper edges of the lower ad.-Ljacent leaves by means of pivots 21 entered throughthe upper ends ofthe side portions of theleaves. lIn the r*oase of the links of' the.uppermost leaf, their upper ends are jpivot'ally mounted upon the rod14 mounted inthe cabinet. As shown in Fig. 3 said rod may be mounted inthe Opposite walls .of the Y compartment y which .is Closed by theshutter,ras for example, by being supported 'at the upper ends of theYguideways 17. Said guideways may be.. of any suitableconstruetionnbfeing herein formed from sheet metal yrnemlbers23seeiir'ed tothe side :walls of the 4Compartin'ent and bent yto providethe "guideway 17. The lowermost leaf of the shutter carries at its loweredge in the side portions 18 thereof, the guide rod 15 for engaging inthe guideway 17. In this instance the hinged members connecting thelowermost leaf to the upper adjacent leaf are shorter than the otherlinks, being terminated be low the pivots 19, as shown in F ig. 2.

It will be seen that the members 13 and the side portions 18 of theleaves together form in effect a lazy-tong construction, as shownclearly in Figs. 2 and 4;, which permits of the relative swingingmovement of the leaves from operative position across the opening 10 inthe cabinet into collapsed relation at one edge of the opening. Topermit of the free and substantially unrestricted pivotal movement ofthe leaves with respect to each other, the lower or yrear edges of theside portions 18 of the leaves are bent outwardly, as shown in Figs. `2and 6 to provide flat offset portions 22 upon which the links 13 maybear. rlhis peculiar shap ing of the side portions 18 also permits ofthe nesting of the leaves, the offset portions 22 of one leaf beingadapted to overlie the side portions of the adjacent leaf.

At their upper edges the leaves are referably bent inwardly, as shown at12a Fig. 2), to underlap the lower edges of the upper adjacent leaves.To permit of such intei-fitting relation of the leaves, the oppositeends of the inwardly bent portions are notched, as shown'at 12b (Fig.3), so as to receive the lower ends of the side portions 18 (Fig. 2).

To facilitate the operation of the shutter from its operative positionclosing the opening to its inoperative position, the lowermost leaf maybe provided with suitable finger pieces or hooks 24 which are shaped soas not to interfere with the folding of the leaves into a compact stack.To support the leaves when moved into their inoperative position, asuitable spring catch member 25 is provided which may be secured at theup er edge of the opening 10 of the cabinet.

t will be seen that I have provided a shutter which is of a. very simpleconstruction and which is adapted to provide a very efficient closurefor the cabinet opening. The leaves are operatively associated in such amanner as to be capable of being moved from an extended relation to aninoperative lor collapsed relationwith the expenditure of a minimumamount of edort on the part of the operator, and the operation of theparts is smooth and may be accomplished with substantially no noise.

l claim as my invention:

1. A shutter for kitchen cabinets and the like comprising, incombination with a frame defining an opening to be closed, a pluralityof leaves, guideways within the cabinet `at the opposite edges of theopening,

and means operatively connecting the leaves together whereby to permitof their moveA ment from an extended edge to edge relation intocollapsed relation at one edge of the opening and vice versa, saidconnecting means comprising a lazy tong linkage at each edge of theshutter, and each of said linkages including an upwardly and forwardlyextending bar pivoted substantially centrally of the uppermost leaf andhaving its free end piyotally supported at the upper ends of saidguideways, and guide studs operable in said guideways, said studs beinglocated near the lower forward edge of the lowermost leaf; thearrangement being such that the leaves when extended substantially abutthe rear face of said frame and when collapsed extend rearwardly intothe cabinet with the connecting means concealed at all times by theframe.

2. A shutter for kitchen cabinets and the like comprising a plurality ofleaves made of sheet metal and having at their opposite ends flangesprojecting substantially at right angles thereto, means operativelyconnecting said leaves together comprising a bar pia# oted to each ofthe flanges of said leaves on an axis disposed substantially midwaybetween the upper and lower edges of the leaf, said bars and flangesbeing pivotally connected together to form a lazy tong linkage at eachedge of the shutter7 a pair of guideways within the cabinet and locatedimmediately rearward of the plane of the opening to be closed andparallel thereto, a rod mounted at the upper ends of said guideways andextending transversely of the opening, the bars pivoted to the oppositeends of the uppermost leaf of the shutter being pivotally mounted attheir upper forward ends on said rod, and a rod carried by the lowermostleaf near the lower forward edge thereof and having its opposite endsengaging in said guideways whereby the leaves are maintained bodily atall times rearwardly of the plane of the opening.

3. A shutter for kitchen cabinets and the like comprising, incombination with a frame defining an opening to be closed, a pluralityof leaves, guideways within the cabinet at the opposite edges of theopening, and means operatively connecting the leaves together whereby topermit of their movement from an extended edge to edge relation into acollapsed relation at one edge of the opening and vice versa, saidconnecting means comprising a lazy tong linkage at each edge of theshutter, and each of said linkages including an upwardly and forwardlyeXtending bar pivoted substantially centrally of the uppermost leaf andhaving its free end pivotally supported at the upper ends of saidguideways, guide studs operable in said guideways, said studs beinglocated near the lower forward edge of the lowermost leaf; i3@

the arrangement being such that the leaves to engage with one of theleaves when the when extended substantially abut the rear latter are intheir collapsed relation whereby face of said frame and when collapsedeX- to maintain the shutter in position at the 10 tend rearwardly intothe' cabinet with the upper edge of the opening.

5 connecting means concealed at all times by In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set the frame, and a device secured to the upper my hand.

edge of the opening and adapted yieldably RUDOLPH HOFFMAN.

